Reviews

Last year Tokyo RPG Factory released its first game, I Am Setsuna which was featured a battle system similar to Chrono Trigger and a piano based score composed by Tomoki Miyoshi. Although I didn’t get around to reviewing I Am Setsuna‘s soundtrack‎ I did share my thoughts on it, stating that it suited the icy setting and story of sacrifice surrounding the main character.

Tomoki Miyoshi has returned to score Lost Sphear, Tokyo RPG Factory’s second official release. The game is already out in Japan and will be available in early 2018. The soundtrack to Lost Sphear breaks free of the solo piano and branches out with a much more diverse use of instruments. Read on for my full review of the soundtrack.(more…)

The combination of chiptunes and live instruments may not be a new thing these days, but the duo of Jeffrey “jmr” Roberts and Mikhail “streifig” Ivanov that make up the band Marshall Art helped to master the the concept in the past handful of years. Having released albums of both original compositions as well as arrangements of game music and even live performances at MAGFest, the chiprock team has created a synergy that sounds both retro and fresh at the same time.

With the recent release of their newest EP, Timeline, Marshall Art continues that trend while also bringing in the talents of post-rock musician Cory Johnson to craft a small tribute to old and new game music. The four-track album features arrangements of tracks from The Legend of Zelda, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound and Undertale that take a low-key progressive rock flavor interlaced with chip music that does homage to the roots of the track’s origins as 8 and 16-bit soundtracks while also keeping things sounding modern.

I have a confession to make. I have never played Undertale, or heard any of its music until a couple of weeks ago when I was asked to review String Player Gamer’s Undertale: Strings of Determination. String Player Gamer is also known as Diwa de Leon , a composer, arranger and musician based in Manila, Philippines. The album itself is labelled as the complete edition that collects four volumes of music that has ben published by Materia Collective. The album features 46 tracks of exquisite arrangements of composer Toby Fox’s music for Undertale. Having listened to the album a few times now, you can read on for my full review which includes a series of must listen tracks from the album. If like me, you’ve never experienced anything Undertale here’s the perfect place to start.

For those who fawn over the soundtrack crafted for the newest iteration of DOOM, composed by Mick Gordon, you might want to take a look at a new indie game with a soundtrack composed to sound quite a bit like the industrial vibe of the DOOM and Prey soundtracks.

Abatron, an action strategy shooter game in early access on Steam that styles itself as “galactic dominance with controlled combat” is very much akin to that of DOOM. The graphics and aesthetics certainly give a hard nod to the sci-fi horror-like imagery and feel of DOOM, though with a bit more of a technological spin to it. Abatron’s music is also a nod to the former, with both an oldschool and new feel to it. The game’s composer, Nils “NeonInsect” Sinatsch, had some very clearcut ideas in mind when he composed the game’s music.

Steel Samurai has been kicking around the Baltimore, Maryland scene since late 2013, making appearances at MAGFest and Bit Gen while contributing their brand of rock to an array of gamemusiccompilations. They specialize in power-rocking “the most ancient, unused and obscure video game compositions” and their second, self-titled EP definitely holds true to that mission statement.

Released on July 29th, Steel Samurai is a short EP but it rocks all the way through and covers a lot of rarely-revisited source material. The theme of the band’s namesake — the fictional TV hero from the also-fictional world of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney — opens things up with a powerful rendition of the traditional Japanese-style tune from the DS game. But track two is what really pulled me into this album.

The new Berserk TV series aired its first season last year to mixed reviews due to its use of a cell shaded 3D animation technique. In all of the reviews I came across, none had much to say about the music in the series. I have seen the original low budget Berserk anime TV series, the three Golden Age Arc films, played the Dreamcast game and read the manga up to volume 36. I am very familiar with the musical history of the series and actually passed on buying the scores to the trilogy of films by Shiro Sagisu.

However after watching Berserk last year, and listening to the music as it played in the series made this an album I could not pass up. Read on for my thoughts on the latest Berserk musical experience.

The Halo Wars 2 Original Game Soundtrack boasts 38 tracks of glorious orchestral music performed by the Hollywood Studio Symphony. The music was composed by the trio of composers Gordy Haab, Brian Trifon, and Brian Lee White. Additional music for the game was composed by Samuel Smythe, and Jay Wiltzen.

I’ve taken some time to listen to the soundtrack over the past week which has been both an engaging and rewarding experience. Read on for my impressions of the album, and my favorite tracks.

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